Dance Fest 2025 Announcement vMay (5) - Flipbook - Page 20
NYC’S JOYCE THEATER
The Joyce Theater Foundation (“The Joyce,” Executive Director, Linda Shelton), a nonprofit organization, has proudly served the dance community for over four decades. Under
the direction of founders Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, Ballet Tech Foundation acquired
and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea. Opening as The Joyce Theater in 1982, it was
named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther’s
clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately
possible to build the theater.
Ownership was secured by The Joyce in 2015. The theater is one of the only theaters built
by dancers for dance and has provided an intimate and elegant home for over 400 U.S.based and international companies.
The Joyce has also expanded its reach beyond its Chelsea home through off-site
presentations at venues ranging in scope from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, to
Brooklyn’s Invisible Dog Art Center, and outdoor programming in spaces such as Hudson
River Park.
To further support the creation of new work, The Joyce maintains longstanding
commissioning and residency programs. Local students and teachers (K–12th grade) benefit
from its school program, and family and adult audiences get closer to dance with access to
artists.
The Joyce’s annual season of about 48 weeks of dance now includes over 340
performances – both digital and in-person – for audiences of over 150,000.
